The first month of 2026 is over, so it’s time for me to reflect on what I was up to.

I was planning, as many years, to go on a “welcome the new year” hike right on the first day. But my plans were ruined the day before – I had major digestive issues to the point I got very nauseous and had to spend the day at home, hoping that I’d be fine enough for Saturday and the first hike of the hiking club – which I was to lead, so my absence wasn’t exactly possible. And I managed to recover enough to participate, though I decided to choose the safe option and chose a shorter distance than usual.

From then on, things have resumed a normal life as much as possible. I was still feeling out of energy for a couple more days, but that passed over the following days and didn’t hinder my hiking plans further. As usual, I’ll make a separate post for the month’s hikes, but I take it as a success that I managed four, even if some of them were lighter (but that’s also normal for me in winter).

When it comes to my “homely” hobbies, I only started reading my first book of the year a week after the year started, but by the end of this month, I was close to finishing my second, so I’m at my usual pace of trying to read two books a month. Hopefully, this will stay. Especially as I have some idea what to read, many of which are new releases by authors I’ve read before (which includes the book I’m reading now).

Writing, as often in the first month of the year, has been on a break. First, because being sick doesn’t do my imagination any favors, second, as I mentioned, I’ll need to do a re-read of book two to have a good judgment of the further edits it might need. With my reading focus being on not falling behind with my reading goals, that’s been on hold for now. I had a glance at the third book, which will need to resume work soon as well, and given that the draft – barring some new scenes – is over five years old, I admit I’m not that well aware of the state. A quick glance shows that it’s extremely underedited and barebones, even if the base story is in – hopefully, as I’ve misjudged that in the past – decent state.

So, I made some notes for book three where I had ideas, mostly continuing from the December writing sessions, and I hope to return to writing in February. Which won’t be easy – it seems work will be busy, and I know that’s often a situation that doesn’t favor writing. I guess time will tell.

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So, that’s the beginning of 2026 for me. I hope your January was kind to you and that you entered 2026 on a positive note. And all the best in February.